Gold and Silver Close Higher After Central Bank Chatter

On Tuesday, gold (NYSEARCA:GLD) futures for February delivery, the most active contract, increased $14.50 to settle at $1,683.90 per ounce, while silver (NYSEARCA:SLV) futures for March jumped 42 cents to close at $31.53.

Both precious metals climbed higher as central bank officials lend support for more Federal Reserve intervention. Narayana Kocherlakota, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, said more should be done to reduce the unemployment rate.

In a statement before the Financial Planning Association of Minnesota, he explains, “I would say that my outlook for unemployment and my outlook for inflation both point to a need for more accommodation than is currently being provided by the FOMC.”

Meanwhile, Eric Rosengren, president of the Boston Federal Reserve Bank, told MarketWatch that quantitative easing should not conclude until the unemployment rate falls to 7.25 percent.

By the end of the day, the SPDR Gold Trust (NYSEARCA:GLD) increased 0.63 percent, while the iShares Silver Trust (NYSEARCA:SLV) gained 1.07 percent. Gold miners (NYSEARCA:GDX) such as Barrick Gold (NYSE:ABX) and Goldcorp (NYSE:GG) both jumped more than 1 percent. Endeavour Silver (NYSE:EXK) increased 1.51 percent, but Pan American Silver (NASDAQ:PAAS) dropped nearly 2 percent after being downgraded by Deutsche Bank from Buy to Hold.